The Distress Call
by Miss-Inquisitive-Sci-fi
Summary: Captain Pike and Commander Burnham thought they were responding to a normal distress call, it was just their luck that it was anything but. With somebody messing with time, a monstrous creature on the loose and the re-appearance of a conman on the run one thing was for sure: It was going to be a very long and eventful day.
1. Chapter 1

Pike clambered over debris, nimbly following Michael along the darkened corridor on the lookout for any sign of habitation. The Discovery was responding to a distress signal originating from an asteroid which had been narrowed down to this crashed ship. When they had scanned for life signs and attempted communication Discovery found that the signals were all shielded; they were getting something though which was enough to investigate further.

Of course the only real option to see if there was anyone in trouble that needed help was to come down in person, Pike had jumped at the chance to have some away mission time. He had also had an ulterior motive asking for Michael to come along. Down here on this crashed ship amongst bent metal and sparking electrics Michael Burnham couldn't run away; she had been avoiding him for days and he needed to know why.

Now he understood and recognised that Michael had been carrying out her duty sufficiently but that was all; it was like she wasn't really there when she was on the bridge, like she was functioning purely on automatic and it was starting to worry him. He had thought back to when he started noticing her become withdrawn not just around him but with the whole crew; he had narrowed it down to when they had heard the unbelievable news about Spock's murderous escape from Starbase 5.

They both had a hard time believing that Spock was capable of murder and ever since that day Michael had grown distant with everyone around her, lost in her own thoughts most likely. Pike had seen the behaviour before and saw where it could lead, distraction in the field could be deadly. He wanted to help Burnham without putting a black mark on her record; she was a good officer and had been going through a lot recently.

"There's a faint signal from up ahead." Michael interrupted his thought process.

He watched her carefully and sighed when she kept her nose in the data pad, even now she was doing her level best to avoid all but necessary conversation and eye contact. It just wasn't like her.

After a long spell of silence he decided enough was enough. "Michael?"

She didn't even stop walking or look at him. "Yes Sir?"

Pike reached out to her and frowned as she flinched away; he had not been expecting that reaction. She was clearly more highly strung and on edge than he had observed. "Sorry." He apologised automatically and backed away a few steps.

She relaxed instantly as soon as he was out of her personal zone which only made his frown deepen, his concern was only growing the more time he spent with her. Michael finally averted her eyes away from the data pad and met his but he could see wasn't happy with the interruption.

Well time to just dive into the problem head first. "I couldn't help but notice you being quiet the past few days. Is something wrong? I'm worried about you."

Michael cast her eyes downward. "I'm fine Sir."

He doubted that had even convinced her own mind and it certainly hadn't swayed him in the slightest. "Look, I'm not saying you have to talk to me but you need to talk to someone Michael." It had crossed his mind that perhaps he was the problem or maybe he wasn't as approachable as he thought. "Whatever's wrong it's affecting you."

The Captain implored her to see that he was only trying to help; he frankly didn't care if she decided to keep him out of this as long as she returned to her old self again. Much more of this and who knew what damage would be done.

Michael met his eye properly for the first time in days. Pike almost stumbled back at the emotion he saw brewing in her gaze, so he had been on the money and she had been bottling it all up. "I don't know what to do." She whispered.

Pike could scarcely believe she was opening up so followed his instincts. "Is this to do with Spock?"

She looked away miserably which only confirmed his suspicions. This distressing behaviour had all started when they had found out about her brother; the main problem was Pike really didn't know what to do to help. They had no further leads on Spock's location or motives and they weren't likely to get any information anytime soon.

"I don't know how I can help him, or if he would even accept my help." She looked at him pleadingly.

Pike sighed heavily; he was treading on dangerous ground with their history but he knew enough about Spock to know he would never refuse help from family. "I don't know what happened between the two of you but Spock is your brother, nothing's going to change that."

Michael stared up at him with a familiar half-smile one that Pike hadn't seen in far too long. He figured perhaps she needed to hear this from someone else, someone else who knew Spock.

They both jumped as they heard a loud clang echo along the corridor and Michael's pad started beeping louder. "This way." Michael shot off like a rocket making Pike jog to keep up. The Captain knew they needed a longer talk but he could already see glimpses of the real Michael appear as she raced away.

Burnham ran along the corridor leaping over debris like an accomplished athlete, Pike was actually breaking out a sweat keeping up with her relentless pace but didn't complain. If someone was in trouble then it was paramount they get to them quickly. Suddenly Michael skidded to a halt just outside a door, and Pike noticed the beeping had stopped.

"Something wrong?" He asked cautiously. The hairs were standing up on the back of his neck unpleasantly; he couldn't put his finger on it but this place felt wrong.

"The signal's gone." Michael muttered and tapped at the data pad in confusion.

Pike glanced all around them and saw no other way they could go from here except forwards through the door or back the way they came. "It died?"

Michael shook her head bewildered. "I don't think so, it's strange I haven't seen anything like this before."

The Captain sighed and realised enough was enough he had to make the decision. "I say we go in, this was the last direction of the signal."

Burnham straightened and nodded in agreement. She activated the door controls and they both entered through the new room cautiously. Pike swept a careful gaze round the new surroundings and noted that the space seemed more lived in and a great deal brighter, and there was even stable power throughout the room. He spotted computers, electronics and tools which all were in different states of being broken apart. The space almost looked like an engineer's workshop. There were even screens that were still powered up, whoever had been here hadn't been gone long.

"Someone's been here." He continued to sweep the surroundings cautiously; creepily it was eerily quiet. "Can you tell if the distress call came from one of those machines?" He asked Michael and smiled when he realised he needn't have asked, she was already on a computer way ahead of him as usual.

She smirked. "Already on it."

Pike chuckled and carried on investigating the large room careful to look for any other recent signs of life. He mostly saw more broken and stripped down tech, and more disturbingly large amounts of dried blood splattered over the whole place. It looked really really old though which was puzzling.

"Hello can anyone hear me?" He shouted and clocked a couple of doors heading off out of the room; who knew how deep this place went?

Pike heard clattering in the distance and was about to suggest to Michael they follow the noise to see if there were any survivors who needed their help, when one of the doors slid open and a man walked through carrying a huge bundle of electronics in his arms.

The man stopped in his tracks mid-step and stared at the newcomers in shock. Pike didn't recognise the man but his senses were on alert in an instant and his fight or flight responses kicked in. His instincts were telling him this guy was dangerous and his instincts were rarely wrong.

Still their primary objective was to help. "We're here to help, I'm Captain Pike of the USS Discovery."

He watched anxiously as the man warily glanced over the Captain's shoulder; he reminded Pike of a deer caught in the head lights with how jumpy he was acting and the way his eye's widened. Chris followed his gaze cautiously and looked over his shoulder to see Michael aiming a phaser at the newcomer.

_What the hell was Michael doing?_

Chris' own eyes widened in surprise at the sudden turn of events. He backed slowly out of the line of fire and watched the newcomer and Michael carefully. Burnham looked seriously peeved off and the new comer looked damn right terrified, and he now noticed the mystery guy was wearing a holster with a blaster tucked into it. He guessed he had been right when he classed the newcomer as dangerous.

"Umm Michael, care to fill me in here." He took his own phaser out but kept it pointed at the ground unsure as to who exactly he should be pointing it at. This had all got very weird very quickly. Burnham didn't take her eyes off of the newcomer who suddenly dropped all of the equipment in his arms, which landed with a resounding clang.

Michael narrowed her eyes at the newcomer suspiciously. "This is the fugitive Harry Mudd."

Pike looked between Michael and Mudd and realised exactly why Burnham was acting the way she was. This fugitive was dangerous, manipulative and had a long violent history with Starfleet. He raised his phaser to join Michael's and aimed it at the fugitive.

"Nice to see you again Michael." Harry smiled nervously and surrendered with his hands in the air.

Pike didn't trust that smile or the way the Mudd was fidgeting on the balls of his feet; he had the look of a guy that was about to go for his gun any minute. "Put the weapon on the ground Mudd."

The Captain observed Mudd flinch and his finger tightened on his own phaser in response. They hadn't come here to get in a firefight but he would stun the hell out of the fugitive if he needed to. The tension rose in the room to unspeakable levels until the idiot did something stupid.

Mudd reached for his gun but was far too slow to outmanoeuvre the resulting stun blasts heading his way. Two energy bolts slammed into him within micro-seconds of each other, one courtesy of Burnham and one from Pike. Harry groaned loudly and fell to the floor, his blaster clattering uselessly to the ground. Chris belatedly noticed that Mudd was holding something in his other hand and was about to press a button or switch of some kind.

"Put your hands where we can see them Mudd." Pike ordered wary of the new device.

Harry just smiled at them and looked at Michael pointedly. "I'll catch you next time round."

Chris was seriously confused but Michael seemed to understand what Mudd was talking about. She raced forwards with a horrified expression etched on her face. "No! Don't let him press…"

* * *

Burnham clambered through shattered and crumbling walls with Pike hot on her heels. They followed the beeping distress signal until suddenly it stopped. Michael skidded to a halt and frowned at the data pad in her hands; Pike glanced round their surroundings and watched as Michael's frown grew.

"Something wrong?" He asked cautiously. There was something in the air he couldn't quite place but it had a sense of wrongness that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

Michael looked seriously confused. "The signal's gone." Her frown deepened into something more serious which only made Pike more concerned about her behaviour, he thought she had re-focussed but she now looked distracted again.

"What's wrong?" He scanned the corridor annoyed that he couldn't seem to place this off feeling and work out how wrong this place was; Michael's reaction really wasn't helping.

Burnham glanced at him and blinked; she was giving him the strangest look almost as though he wasn't really there and she was looking straight through him. As soon as it appeared it vanished and then she shook hear head clear of the fuzziness and smiled at him. "Sorry Captain, it's nothing. I just had a weird sense of deja vu."

Pike wanted to push the matter further but he was also very aware that they were in danger here and so possibly were others. He had to trust Michael would open up when she was ready but for now they had a mission to complete. Both their eyes landed on the door causing Pike to make a decision.

"I say we go in, this was the last direction of the signal."

Chris caught Michael glancing around the space looking for something and on alert, when he caught her eye though she just nodded pulled her mind into the present and took the lead through the door. Pike followed carefully and kept one eye on Burnham and one on their new surroundings.

The whole space reminded him of an engineer's workshop, it was littered with hardware, equipment and energy tools. His eyes landed on several screens that still had diagnostics and various programs running on them' whoever had been here hadn't been gone long.

"Someone's been here." He checked one of the screens and watched figures fly by at incredible speeds.

"Can you tell if the distress call came from one of these machines?" He glanced over his shoulder to Michael.

She was already logged onto one of the computers and threw him a smile. "Already on it."

Pike chuckled and carried on investigating the large room, careful to keep an eye out for any recent signs of life. The one thing that really caught his eye was the sight of dried blood. He examined it and frowned at how old it looked and more importantly how much of it there was. What had happened here?

"Hello can anyone here me?" He shouted out and looked around in all directions for any sign of anything.

In his surveying sweep he clocked several doors leading off to god know's where, who knew how deep this place went. Sadly only silence followed his question; if there was anyone here they couldn't hear him.

"The distress call definitely came from in here." Michael called out.

"Right, well they can't have gone far." Pike concluded and started heading towards the far door, hearing Burnham in his wake.

He had barely started walking when the door whooshed open and Pike felt his stomach drop nervously; a man holding a very large gun stepped out confidently pointing his weapon directly at the Captain's head.

"Don't move." The newcomer harshly commanded and Chris had to fight against pulling out his phaser completely against all his training and instincts.

Pike took a moment and forced himself to calm down, the adrenaline wasn't making the task easy but he had to focus and knock the shock away. Clearly this guy was terrified and needed reassurance that they were here to help, and here to answer their distress call. Before Chris got a word in edge ways though he heard Michael exclaim behind him.

"You…"

_What the hell?_

All thoughts of delivering a reassuring plea flew out the window. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Michael too had her hand on her holstered phaser, more worryingly though she was sending the mystery gunman death glares and Pike hadn't seen Burnham look quite this angry before. He didn't miss the recognition on her face either.

"Michael." The new comer greeted with a clipped voice. He stalked forwards closer to Pike, careful to keep the both of them covered with his gun which indicated training. One odd thing was that he did keep looking over to the other side of the room as if he was waiting on something.

Pike's tactical mind started calculating the odds of him or Michael being able to draw and stun the newcomer before he fired on them. There was one big unknown in the whole equation though; for all they knew one shot from this guy's weapon could be fatal. The Captain tensed as the gunman reached into his pocket and withdrew a device. Michael gasped causing Pike to worry that the gunman may have got his hands on some sort of explosive.

"How many loops have we been through?"

The Captain frowned deeply; he hated not knowing what was going on and it seemed Michael knew more than he did. Not only that but Burnham sounded even more furious and what the hell was that about loops?

The newcomer smiled nastily. "Oh, just the one so far."

Michael actually growled, Pike looked between the two of them blinking rapidly unsure what on earth he had just walked into. "Sorry to interrupt but what the hell is going on?"

Before they could answer a side door opened, the same side door that the gunman had been watching closely. A robot walked through the doorway holding yet another bloody gun. She covered Michael from the side causing any thoughts of shooting their way out of this to fall apart; when it was just the first gunman they might have stood a chance.

Pike sighed inwardly, you'd think just once they could get lucky and not stumble into danger responding to every distress call. The universe must have been listening because suddenly the robot lost her footing on the stairs and tumbled over into a heap. The gunman turned to the distraction giving Michael and Pike the chance to take out their phaser's and turn them on the threat.

The gunman readjusted his aim but he could see it was too late and the element of surprise was lost. "Dammit! Stupid robot."

Pike wanted to retake control of this weird situation before anyone got truly hurt. "I'm going to have to ask you to lower your weapon, we're here to help."

Michael scoffed and the gunman sneered. "The federation doesn't help, it never has."

The Captain hadn't mentioned who they were so the gunman clearly recognised their uniforms and had taken this action anyway; pulling a gun on them hadn't been a mistake or a simple act of fear. For some reason, that Michael seemed to know more about, this guy had a real problem with the federation and a deep set hatred.

He ignored Pike's question completely and stared at Michael knowingly. "Are you really going to make me loop us again or will you put your guns down?"

Michael's uncharacteristic response was firing her phaser which actually surprised Chris, he hadn't pegged her for the trigger happy type.

"Mich-"

* * *

**A/N - So as you can see this story involves a little bit of time manipulation, hopefully it doesn't get too confusing in future chapters! The next chapter should be up in a few days or so.**


	2. Chapter 2

Burnham skidded to a halt suddenly causing the Captain to react quickly to avoid barrelling full speed into his officer. He glanced at Michael and their surroundings cautiously and noted the absence of the beeping from the data pad, which Burnham was currently frowning at.

"Something wrong?" He asked cautiously shaking away a chill that had suddenly appeared in the air. His instincts were screaming at him that there was something seriously wrong with this whole situation, annoyingly he couldn't put his finger on what the hell it was.

His unease grew as he watched Michael's frown deepen and then even more worryingly her eyes went completely distant, like she wasn't at home anymore. Burnham spun round on the spot all of a sudden, data pad forgotten and hung loosely at her side. He watched her expression carefully which had morphed into a confused look, and then for a second her eyes widened as if she was remembering something crucial. Just as quickly as the strange look appeared it vanished and Michael blinked in confusion at the loss.

The whole moment had only lasted a few seconds but it had been enough to concern Chris, Michael really didn't seem herself and getting distracted like this was not like her at all. He needed to snap her back into reality before the danger he could feel in the air reared it's ugly head.

"Michael?" He reached out carefully and tapped her arm, hoping to bring her gently out of whatever this was.

Just like earlier she damn near jumped out of her skin and stared at him with a befuddle expression. It was bloody odd and this look didn't sit well with him. Michael shook her head clear and smiled strangely, thankfully she looked more like herself again.

"Sorry Captain, I just had the strangest feeling. It's gone now though." Even though she was smiling at him Pike wasn't entirely convinced, they definitely were overdue for a long chat when this was over.

"The signal was last in here."

Pike blinked at the sudden change in his officer's behaviour and followed her through the doorway, mission back on both of their minds. Somebody here had been calling for help and there was a chance they were still alive.

The Captain swept a scrutinising gaze round the new surroundings, clocking unidentifiable hardware and tech lying round the space. He soon spotted several computers with programs still running which meant whoever had been here hadn't been gone long.

"Someone's been here." There was something about the eery atmosphere that was starting to make his skin crawl, he felt chilly all of a sudden as if someone had just walked over his grave.

He was about to ask Burnham to check for the machines for any traces of the distress call's source, when he noticed she was already fervently working away at one. It was reassuringly like Burnham: always one step ahead.

Pike left Michael to her task and continued his own surveillance sweep, clocking all the exits from the room and wondering just exactly how much of this place they would have to search. His stomach dropped as he spotted something unpleasant, the floor and walls were painted with dark, rusty stains. At first glance he had thought nothing of it but after closer examination he had identified the grim substance to be blood, not just any blood but really _old_ blood. It was just another piece in the confusing puzzle.

"Hello can anyone hear me?" He shouted towards each of the exits and heard his voice rebound back.

Sadly only silence followed his question. If there was anyone still alive down here they probably couldn't hear him.

"The distress call definitely came from in here." Michael concluded and stepped away from the terminal.

Pike watched her and frowned when she stared at something warily over his shoulder an unreadable expression on her face. He followed her gaze and saw oddly she was staring at the doorway he was heading towards.

"Michael what is it?" He asked and tensed automatically, he rarely put aside another officer's instincts.

All of a sudden the door whooshed open and Pike felt his stomach drop as a man holding a very large gun waltzed out, pointing the deadly weapon directly at his head.

"Hands off phasers now." The man commanded causing the Captain to realise he had automatically reached for his weapon. Michael's behaviour and the general sense of unease had already had him on alert, not that it had helped in any great way. Even with all their unease and cautiousness they were still being held at gunpoint by an unknown person of unknown intent, the guy had come through the door with his weapon already raised like he knew they were going to be here.

Pike slowly lifted his hands in the air and away from his phaser, wary of the fact that the newcomer's blaster was being held steadily and hadn't moved away from his head. One flinch and this would situation would become irreversible. He had to remind himself that the distress call must have been sent by people fearing for their life, there was every chance this was all just some big misunderstanding and the gunman was simply defending himself.

Before Pike got a single word in edge ways he heard Michael exclaim behind him. "You…"

_Wait, Burnham knew this guy?_

He had been planning on delivering a speech to convince the man that they were here to help and that he was safe now, but Michael's recognition had killed that completely. Pike's eyes widened as he took in her aggressive stance. She still had her hand clutching at her holstered phaser against the gunman's order, and she was sending the mystery man looks that could kill. She clearly recognised him and knew he was a serious threat.

"Hands off Burnham or I shoot your friend here in the face."

And the guy knew Michael, of course he did. Pike also didn't miss how easily the gunman delivered the threat, he was openly aggressive, threatening and showcasing clear murderous intent. What had they walked into?

Pike tensed and kept his hands up in surrender as the mysterious gunman took several steps towards him, carefully putting Pike between him and Burnham. Chris watched the gunman growing impatient then out of the corner of his eye he saw Michael reluctantly move her hand away from her phaser. He and Burnham turned as the door to the left slid open and a robot exited pointing a gun at Michael. Pike frowned at the latest turn of events, they were covered expertly from all sides and outgunned.

The robot came to a stop just outside of hand to hand combat range and levelled it's gun at Michael's head. Pike had to admit the two gunman knew what they were doing, and annoyingly weren't getting close enough to allow he and Burnham a chance to disarm them.

"Look, I don't know who you are or how you know Michael…"

"God! I'm sick of you not knowing who I am." The guy snapped angrily which only caused the Captain's confusion to grow infinitely. He couldn't help but think he had missed something here or at least blacked out for part of the conversation.

Michael groaned behind him. "How many times Mudd?" And of course Michael seemed to be in on this secret conversation too, just another missing piece to this crazy puzzle.

Pike mulled the name over in his head; it was ringing some bells but he just couldn't quite place it. The man who seemed to be called Mudd grinned over Pike's shoulder at Michael. "Only 2, I learn quickly."

The Captain honestly wanted to sink into the floor right about now. He was starting to consider options to explain how he was out of the loop like perhaps their translators were on the fritz, perhaps Michael and this guy could speak telepathically or perhaps Pike had suffered a head wound along the way and was hallucinating this whole conversation. His confused expression was making Mudd furious but he could hardly help being in the dark.

"Explain to your friend what's happening Michael so I don't just shoot him and start this all over again." Pike almost stumbled back under the intense hatred he saw, Mudd wasn't making an idle threat in fact he could see he was struggling _not_ to shoot them. He glanced at Michael for answers who at least looked sympathetic to his lost expression.

"This is Harry Mudd, wanted fugitive and the man responsible for the time looping incident on Discovery some time ago."

All the pieces clicked into place at once and Pike saw the whole picture and realised exactly why Mudd was openly aggressive, and not keen on accepting their help. Now Michel mentioned the full name and incident he could picture the man's file, and remember the chaos of Discovery's muddled history with the conman and his time toy. Mudd hadn't been seen for some time, but that didn't take away from the fact that this man was a wanted fugitive who was incredibly dangerous.

Pike replayed the conversation Michael and Mudd had been having with new context and _oh god_, he now understood that they had been talking about time loops. They could have been going through these events all day long and he and Michael would never know.

"Well shit." Was all his shocked brain could manage; this could be a _very_ long day.

Mudd actually grinned happily at the reaction. "Ah it's nice to know my reputation proceeds me."

Pike shook his head in disbelief, and he eyed the weapon more warily now he knew the history of the man who holding it. "It's not a good reputation believe me, the federation won't stop looking for you."

He belatedly realised mentioning the federation might have been a bad move, Mudd scowled furiously and tightened his hold on the phaser. He scrutinised Pike and Burnham and focussed on the Captain's badge. "You're a Captain on Discovery?"

"Captain Christopher Pike." He confirmed warily.

Mudd's face turned thunderous and he shouted at Burnham. "Where's Lorca?"

_Christ now that was a can of worms they did not want opening the way Michael had been acting lately._

"Dead." She deadpanned. Thankfully she didn't look that affected, on the surface at least.

Mudd narrowed his eyes dangerously and Pike tensed under the glare. This guy reminded him of a ticking time bomb and he really didn't want to be around when it went off, although that wasn't likely to happen with all the phasers pointing their way. Mudd sighed then came to a decision, gesturing to both of them.

"Phasers and communicators on the floor now."

And that was the final nail in the coffin Mudd had confirmed their fate as hostages. Pike glanced back over his shoulder at Burnham and saw she was as hesitant as he was to do as instructed, it wasn't like they had any other options being covered on all sides like they were.

Mudd quickly grew impatient. "You know you can't win, if by some miracle you manage to shoot me this time we will loop all over again. There's no way you can get out of this."

The Captain felt completely defeated; this was what they called a no-win scenario. The little device Mudd had utilised so well was going to be a bloody nightmare for the federation once again. If he and Michael tried to escape he would just reset, if Discovery found them he would reset, if anything happened he didn't like he would reset. Pike was under no illusion that they could be stuck here forever.

Chris miserably sighed in defeat then took the lead throwing his phaser and communicator down on the floor as instructed, Burnham followed closely behind. Mudd smiled triumphantly and moved to pick up one of the phasers, holding it loosely in his hand. Pike could sadly guess what was coming before it happened.

Mudd set the phaser to stun, aimed it at him and Burnham and fired twice. "Nighty, night." Mudd's grinning face was the last thing Pike saw before he crumpled to the ground and passed out.

* * *

Pike drifted back into the world to be greeted by the sadly familiar sensation of grogginess and nausea. He hated to admit that he had been stunned enough times over the years to recognise the distressing signs. The next pressing question was how and why had he been stunned, and where on earth was he? The last time thing he remembered was following Michael down a corridor and then nothing.

Chris decided the need to fill in the blanks overrode the nausea and blinding headache. He opened his eyes blearily and tried to reawaken his dead muscles and limbs. He flexed his wrists first and felt more than a little annoyed when he found he couldn't move either his arms or legs.

The Captain glanced down and scowled as he saw he had been tied to a chair with what looked like electrical cabling, his limbs were secured to the arms and legs tightly. There was also a thick coil wrapped several times around his chest and shoulders which disappeared behind the chair, which was when he felt a presence behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder as far as he could manage and noticed a familiar person. She looked like she was just starting to come round too. "Michael?" He croaked.

His voice clearly broke through her daze because she snapped to him and he felt his chair shift. He then realised the wire holding his chest against the chair was probably wrapped around Michael too, connecting both of their chairs together and keeping them both in place.

Michael took a few minutes to adjust to the land of the living and Pike watched her flex against the restraints unsuccessfully. "Captain." She finally greeted.

His memory had been spotty when he first came too but now he remembered everything, it was like the flood gates opening in his mind. Now he was more aware and remembered the events that had brought them to this sorry predicament or rather who was responsible for this; he looked round for any sign of the fugitive Harry Mudd.

Chris soon spotted the man working away at a bench, hands deep inside the innards of the robot that had been pointing a gun at them earlier. Pike observed the scene carefully and mused that perhaps the robot was Mudd's creation, or at the very least he knew how to program and repair it. Either option wasn't out of the question with the skills Mudd had on record.

Pike leaned as far back over his shoulder as he could to try and get a good look at Michael. "Are you alright?"

She leaned backwards too so they could see each other's faces, well just. Thankfully she looked relatively unharmed but there was a deep scowl set into her features because of their predicament. "Fine, you?"

Chris took stock of everything internally and except for a blinding headache nothing major stood out. "Me too."

Michael nodded happily and relaxed a little into their confined space. Whatever else had happened Mudd hadn't shown to be too violent as of yet. Their attention turned to the man as he swore and slammed something hard against the work surface, thankfully he didn't look up and so far he hadn't shown them one iota of notice.

Pike turned back to Michael. "Listen, I can't help but feel a little guilty that you're caught up in this mess. I requested you for this assignment for other reasons."

She raised a brow in amusement. She already knew the other reasons mentioned, he had wanted a chat about what had been distracting her. "Don't be, you couldn't have known." She shrugged.

Pike sighed regretfully. "Still you wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

Michael glanced at him and gave him a knowing look, one that reminded him of Spock. "You have no way of knowing that."

Pike knew better than to argue against Vulcan logic. "Fair point."

Michael smiled lightly. "Besides being off the ship is good for me."

Pike raised his eyebrows incredulously. "You do realise we're tied up together." He flexed his chest against the bindings and shook their chairs to demonstrate.

Michael grinned and laughed. "I didn't say it was more comfortable."

Chris shook his head in disbelief and barked out a surprised laugh. Each time he thought he knew Michael Burnham she did something unexpected, whoever said Vulcan's didn't have a sense of humour clearly had never met Michael or Spock. Pike was happy to see that his officer seemed more herself than she had in weeks so perhaps getting off the ship had helped; he suspected seeing Mudd and the thrill of danger had reawakened something in her. To think he had been worried that the past would send her the other way.

"Hey, keep it down over there." Mudd angrily shouted at them causing Michael and Pike's laughter to die down.

"I don't think he likes us." Michael whispered conspiringly and Pike had to fight the grin that was spreading across his face.

They had to remember they were still in a dangerous situation regardless of the comedic moods they were both in. It was funny how the mind reacted to stress and life or death situations, Pike was learning that Burnham resorted to sarcasm just like he did.

Pike looked over his shoulder and grinned. "We're not acting like model hostages."

"Shame on us." She deadpanned with a straight face although Pike saw the mirth dancing in her eyes. He snorted quietly but unfortunately Mudd heard their continued conversing.

Harry fired a phaser in their direction, it went purposefully wide but was still close enough to get both of their attention. "Do I need to come over there?"

Pike and Burnham sobered which seemed to help abate Mudd's sour mood, and after scowling darkly at them he went back to whatever he was doing. They both stayed silent for a few minutes until they were sure Mudd had calmed down and forgotten their presence.

The Captain spent the silence checking the bindings holding him and felt Burnham squirming and doing the same. Disappointingly they were tight as hell and he couldn't find any give. Neither of them were getting out of these chairs anytime soon. His eyes drifted to the fugitive and recalled everything he could about his file. It was quite a remarkable and disturbing story from what little was recorded about the time loop incident. Harry had personally held a grudge against Lorca which to be honest wasn't that surprising after leaving him on a Klingon prison ship, but still that didn't excuse Mudd's actions and the distress he caused people.

Chris liked to know what he was getting himself into and he had a feeling Michael knew more than he ever could based off any file.

"Is there anything I should know about Mudd?" Michael had been deep in thought before the interruption. "That's not in his file I mean." Pike clarified letting Michael know he was looking for her insight.

Michael sighed heavily and glanced back at their captor. "Don't underestimate him. He's more dangerous than he looks."

Burnham was not one to be melodramatic or overstate things so her warning made Pike a little anxious; he would try to keep the analysis in mind and definitely try not to piss the guy with the gun off. Both officers jumped when Mudd smashed his fist down powerfully then looked up at them narrowing his eyes and grabbing his gun.

Michael and Pike feigned innocence as Mudd stalked over to them fingering the trigger on his blaster. Pike picked up on the aggressive intentions and tensed involuntarily; he felt Burnham do the same behind him.

"Problems?" Pike asked flippantly.

Mudd directed his murderous glare solely at the Captain and forced a tight smile onto his face. "Nothing I can't handle." He lazily pointed the gun between them. "What's been keeping you two so chatty?"

Pike felt Michael go completely still behind him and he took it as a warning; he could recognise the furious look in the fugitive's face and recognised that he wanted any excuse to lash out. So Pike wasn't going to give him one, sadly it turned out he didn't need a reason.

Out of nowhere Harry Mudd hefted the gun and lashed out at Pike's head, catching him bodily across the temple powerfully and drawing blood. Chris cried out with surprise more than anything else. He had to admit though the brutal assault did have the nasty side effect of bouncing his brain around his skull, and left behind an unpleasant throbbing sensation. He hissed as he felt the skin break and knew already that the blow would leave behind a nasty bruise.

"Captain!" Michael cried out aghast.

Chris shook his head steadily until the fog disappeared enough so he could think straight; he glared up into their captor's face. Annoyingly the gun was pointing at his head now and he could hear it was fully charged. Mudd had crossed a line he couldn't cross back, escalating to mindless physical violence was not something the Captain took lightly.

Mudd cocked his head to the side and smirked. "What nothing funny to say?"

Pike gritted his teeth and held his tongue, knowing anything he did say would make this ten times worse. Mudd was just looking for any reaction to latch onto.

Mudd switched his attention to Michael. "What about you Michael? You'd think with your track record of Captains you'd try and take better care of this one." Mudd pushed the gun harshly into Pike's head forcing it back against Michael's.

Chris resisted the urge to react to the violent treatment, he remained silent and never took his eyes off the madman's gaze. He felt Michael flinch behind him at the threat and hated Mudd more for bringing up old wounds; thankfully for both of them she held her tongue and said nothing in response.

The fugitive scrutinised both of them and after some time calmed down when he noticed their submission. He removed the phaser from the Captain's forehead and held it lazily pointing at the floor. "What happened to Lorca?" Pike could hear the distaste and loathing the man still held for his nemesis.

"He disintegrated." Michael almost sounded disinterested with the whole conversation.

Mudd perked up a little. "Well at least that sounds painful. Shame I couldn't be the one to kill him."

Michael snapped. "You did kill him, many times over."

Mudd barked out a laugh. A thoughtful remembering look on his face. "Ah yes, those were good times."

Pike was soon on edge again. Mudd looked like a man who had just had a brilliant idea and what was brilliant for Mudd was definitely not going to be good for either of them. Mudd clapped a hand harshly on Pike's shoulder. "You know I've just had a great idea, I think it will cheer me up no end."

Chris had a very bad feeling about this. Mudd continued unperturbed. "All this talk of the past has reminded me how much fun I had killing Lorca over and over."

_Oh shit,_ this was not going in any good direction. Mudd crouched down between both his captives. "You know I think my favourite one was when I beamed him out into space and watched him suffocate and implode."

Pike felt his stomach drop; that sounded like a horrible way to go, and he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like suffocating like that cold and alone. He also recognised a threat when he heard one whether it was veiled or not.

Mudd smirked sadistically enjoying his captive's reactions. "Now I can't say I have the means to recreate that particular end but I can be quite creative when I want to be. I'm sure I can rig something up for you Captain."

He directed the last promise at the Captain and stared him dead in the eye. Pike resisted the urge to flinch or look away under the deadly glare; this wasn't the first time he had been threatened and he doubted it would be the last. However he had never been threatened with being killed over and over again, and it was something that honestly did strike fear into him. Hell it would strike fear into any man, never-ending suffering.

"Mudd stop it." Michael sounded like she was barely keeping a lid on it; she sounded more outraged than Pike had ever heard her.

Mudd held out a finger in warning towards her. "I was talking to the Captain, mind your manners."

His stare was suddenly back on Pike and Chris realised he was expecting a response. "I think I'll be fine here, thank you." From some miracle his voice was steady and didn't hold the bite to it that he was feeling.

The Captain didn't like people who threatened others and he wouldn't forget what Mudd had said to Michael. The fugitive cocked his head and deliberated for some time as he came to a decision. "Are you sure, it might be fun?"

Pike heard Michael scoff and swear under her breath behind him. He held his gaze with Mudd. "I'm sure."

Mudd watched for a while happily then saw what he had been looking for. He stood and addressed both of them. "Maybe you'll remember this the next time you see fit to distract me from my work."

He went to leave but stopped suddenly to kill any hopes of a rescue they had, which just added salt to the wound. "Oh and don't expect your people to come running to the rescue. I have jamming equipment in place to block any attempts at a transport."

With that said he was storming off and Pike blinked unsure if he had just imagined the whole crazy scene. He could feel adrenaline coarse through his body and felt the nausea return as the familiar fight or flight responses kicked in. That threat and the nightmares it evoked would stay with him for some time.

"Definitely more dangerous than he looks." Pike muttered mostly to himself but knowing Burnham would hear.

"Are you alright?" She whispered back careful to keep her voice down, indicating to the wound on his head.

As soon as Michael reminded him of it, it decided to flare up and throb nastily. It was funny he hadn't even realised he had compartmentalised it. He shook her concern off. "I'm fine."

She shot him a disbelieving look. Pike sighed, it wasn't pleasant having a bleeding head but it wasn't anything he hadn't experienced before. "Really Michael, nothing I've not had before."

Michael looked like she wanted to argue the matter further, but after warily glancing to Mudd working away on the robot again decided against it. They both fell into a thoughtful silence and listened as Mudd worked away, Pike was loath to interrupt the fugitive again lest face his vengeful wrap. Otherwise he would have asked what the hell the man planned on doing next. Discovery would notice their absence soon if they hadn't already and then things would get complicated; for now all they could do was wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Pike and Michael stewed in the silence continuing to struggle against their restraints entirely in vain, they were just too damn tight and well tied to budge even an inch. For the past god knows how long the fugitive Harry Mudd had been tinkering with the robot, soldering wires here and uploading new programs there. Said robot was now up and walking about, it seemed to be programmed to clean up areas of the workshop.

The Captain observed Mudd quietly for some time and started wondering why the man was hiding here of all places; had he put himself here willingly or was he stuck here? If the distress call was sent by Mudd then perhaps he was stuck but then again he didn't appear to be in much of a rush to get away. Pike's eyes drifted to the blood stained floor again and his mind wandered, what could cause such gruesome injuries and was it still around? If there was anything he hated most in the world it was a mystery and the thought of not knowing something.

Funnily enough that was when Mudd decided to make his presence known like he could read minds. Hopefully he would provide some answers to the Captain's never ending questions but Chris wasn't holding out too much hope; he imagined he would get more questions than answers. Pike nudged Michael discretely so she was aware they were about to have company, the fugitive was carrying one of their communicators.

"I need to get in contact with your ship." He addressed Pike.

So Mudd wanted to talk to Discovery but what was his endgame, his big plan? Pike wanted more information from the fugitive before he offered his compliance again. "Why?"

Mudd frowned and sighed dramatically. "How about because I want to get off this god forsaken rock."

_So he was trapped down here then._

Pike flashed him a disarming grin. "Why didn't you say? We could have given you a lift."

Harry growled dangerously hand moving to hover over the blaster at his hip. "Don't play games with me Captain. You don't want me to get nasty again." The fugitive glanced at Burnham issuing a clear threat.

Chris fought down the flare of fury the action provoked, getting angry now would only enrage Mudd further and he did not want to push those buttons too far again. "No, I don't."

Mudd scrutinised the Captain, and when he was happy and in control again forgot about the phaser. "Good, so tell me how I get in contact with your ship and then I can trade your miserable lives for a shuttle off this rock."

Pike almost laughed out loud and had to work hard to keep the incredulous look off his face, surely Mudd knew Discovery wouldn't go for something so preposterous. "You can't be serious." He and Michael both answered at the same time making each other jump.

Mudd glared at both of them whilst a familiar dangerous expression flickered across his face. "Oh, I am."

Maybe the Captain did need to spell it out to the crazed man. "I don't know if you're aware but it's not federation policy to give away shuttles to known criminals." He tried not to sound condescending but it was difficult when dealing with someone who simply refused to see what would and wouldn't happen.

Predictably the warning went straight over the fugitive's head. "You just let me worry about that." He snapped earnestly, pacing a little and getting fidgety as what little patience he had left vanished.

Pike was in half a mind to tell the idiot to go to hell and he probably would have done if Michael wasn't in this mess with him, as it was he was not going to endanger her life. There wasn't any harm in getting Mudd in contact with Discovery, at the very least the ship was about to be aware of their situation.

"It's frequency 10.17.168."

Mudd's face lit up and he expertly twiddled with the dials until the static disappeared and there was a clear line. His smile was dazzling and he excitedly bounced between his captives like he had just won the lottery.

"Discovery can you hear me?" Harry put on a spooky voice and looked as though he was struggling not to burst into fits of laughter.

Pike averted his gaze and clenched his jaw and fists angrily, he was beyond done with their captor's mood swings. This wasn't a bloody game.

"Captain Pike?"

The Captain automatically glanced up when he heard his name being called out, poor Commander Saru must be confused as hell.

Mudd visibly had to reign in his mad cackling before answering, he was enjoying this moment far too much. "Guess again."

"Who is this? Where is Captain Pike and Commander Burnham?" Commander Saru sounded distant and cold on the surface but Pike and Michael knew him better, they could both hear the anxiety whispering through the communicator.

"This is Harcourt Mudd. I'm afraid your colleagues are a little tied up at the moment." Mudd laughed at his own joke causing Pike and Michael to roll their eyes.

"Let me talk to the Captain." Saru demanded, clearly not enjoying the fact Mudd wasn't taking this seriously enough.

Mudd scowled at the communicator issuing orders and looked like he wanted to crush it to smithereens. The desire to get what he wanted won out in the end so he held out the communicator towards Pike's face, a clear warning on his face.

"Tell him you're okay." Mudd ordered in a clipped tone.

Pike noticed their captor had moved his hand to his holstered weapon and lost his relaxed stance. Chris took the warning signs seriously, the last thing he wanted to do was cause him to lose his temper again.

"Commander Saru this is Pike. Commander Burnham and I are okay." He purposefully didn't use the word unharmed as that wasn't strictly true.

"Captain, I…"

Mudd pulled the communicator away angrily and interrupted Saru, making a hushing gesture to his captives. "No, you talk to me now. You've heard they're alive."

"And If you want them to remain that way I suggest you do as I say." He levelled a threatening glare at Pike and Burnham. The intensity of the feelings in his face reminded Chris how angry Mudd was with the federation; not to mention that he was desperate. The most dangerous people Pike had ever encountered were desperate men with no where left to turn.

"What do you want?" Saru's voice had a cautious edge to it. Pike knew why, the regulations and protocols would have the commander's hands tied.

"A shuttle so I can get away from this god awful place." There was silence on the line for a while and Mudd became more wary when it stretched out.

Saru sighed. "That is something we cannot give you."

Predictably the news did not land well and Mudd growled irritably. The Captain wasn't surprised to hear his request be rejected, he had said this would happen. Mudd slammed his fist down and finally lost his temper.

"Now you listen to me, if you don't get me what I want I'll start blasting holes into people!"

Pike winced as he watched their captor explode violently and return to threatening he and Burnham. Usually Chris was a good judge of character and could predict the measure of a man, but with Mudd he just couldn't peg how far he would go. One thing was for sure though, he seriously did not want to find out.

After a long pause Saru finally answered. "I'll need to talk to my superiors."

_Smart._ Saru was playing the ace card by stalling for time, it's what Pike would have done in his shoes to have the time to put a plan of action in place. Mudd looked as furious as ever and the only thing keeping him from going completely trigger happy was that it wasn't a flat refusal.

He eventually replied to Saru drawing on a lot of energy to refrain from snapping the communicator in two. "Don't take too long."

Mudd snapped the communicator shut powerfully then after giving both Pike and Burnham a deathly glare stormed off towards the workshop, muttering harshly the whole way back. Chris held his tongue even though his head was screaming 'I told you so.'

"Well, that went as well as expected." Michael muttered sarcastically.

Pike smirked. "I did warn him."

They both jumped out of their skin when an almighty roar echoed in the distance, it was loud enough to shake the doors and vibrate the tools in the workshop.

"What the hell was that?" Michael sounded as concerned as Pike felt. They had both naturally tried to rise to face the threat before being harshly reminded they were tied down when the chairs nearly tipped.

Just when they all thought they had imagined the crazed sound it roared again. "It doesn't sound friendly." Pike muttered whilst staring at the doorway which was trembling every few seconds. Whatever it was it was on the move.

Mudd dropped whatever tool he was working on and stared in the direction of the roar with horror etched into his expression. "Quickly Emily, we need to barricade the doors!"

_Emily?_ Pike realised the robot must be Emily as she responded to his order and raced along behind him. Chris felt his heart race and tugged against the restraints with anew conviction; he could feel the familiar rush of adrenaline spike and fought the flight or fight instinct. The last thing he wanted to be right now with a dangerous monster on the loose was to be a sitting duck. If Mudd's terrified reaction was anything to go by then they were in serious trouble here.

"Mudd, what the hell is that thing?!" He yelled over the noise of furniture scraping and the trembling of huge footsteps.

Mudd flapped his arms around and continued to throw everything he could get his hands on at the doorway, his complete panic was even making Burnham nervous who was also pulling desperately on her bindings. Eventually he acknowledged Pike's question. "I don't have time to tell you!"

So Mudd knew exactly what that was and he had trapped them all down here anyway. Pike couldn't believe the man's idiocy.

"Make time!" Michael yelled and Pike blinked in shock over how positively furious she sounded.

Chris' heart shot into his mouth when Michael pulled a little too violently on their restraints and they both nearly toppled over. The near-miss evaporated when the creature roared again causing the ceiling to tremble and the lights to flicker.

Mudd looked exasperated and about ready to pull his hair out. Pike recognised the signs of a man who wanted to bolt for the nearest exit but he supposed there was nowhere else to run down here, they were all trapped in this tin can. Emily dutifully continued to pile things up against the doorway not that it would do much good against something which sounded that big.

"What do you think wrecked this base in the first place? We were never alone down here." Mudd sounded genuinely scared for his life. Pike's eyes drifted to the dried blood on the floor and felt queasy as he realised this was the missing piece to the puzzle. He had been wrong earlier, he would rather have not found out there was a murderous thing on the loose.

Mudd looked desperately between the doorway and his captives. "That thing is going to kill us all so you see why we need a shuttle here now!"

To prove their captor's point the barricade rocked violently and several pieces of furniture went flying. Pike's mind span wildly as he realised the creature was right outside and if it were possible it sounded even madder.

Pike thought quickly and realistically there was only one way out of here. "There's no way Discovery can get a shuttle here before we all get ripped apart." Mudd swore loudly and pointed his weapon at the door. "But if you turn off the jamming equipment they can beam us out."

Emily valiantly continued to reinforce the barricade, picking up any furniture that went flying and replacing it as quickly as her motorised legs could carry her. Mudd desperately looked between his captives and the flimsy blockade that was barely keeping the monster at bay. Chris could see the war raging in his mind, it looked like he was half tempted to shoot them and make a run for it but he had nowhere to go. Eventually he picked up the communicator and rushed over to Michael and Pike.

Their captor flipped the lid open and held out the device expectantly. Pike shook his head vigorously. "Untie us first."

Mudd's eyes widened in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

Maybe he was mad negotiating with an armed man when they were all about to be mutilated by a monstrous creature, but there was no way in hell Mudd was taking them onto Discovery as hostages. That would put more crew at risk and that was never going to happen.

"You do this my way or not at all." Pike could be stubborn too, he met Mudd's conflicted expression and saw his desire to live win out.

"Fine." He spat. "Emily come help me here."

Emily dropped the cabinet she had been carrying and rushed over obediently. In a flash she expertly sliced through the electrical wires binding Michael and Pike together. Their arms and legs were soon free and Pike wasted no time in jumping up and snatching the communicator.

He stopped just shy of issuing the order as he spotted Mudd still had his phaser pointing at them. "What are you waiting for?" Mudd screamed at him, eyes widening as the whole room trembled again.

Pike indicated to the phaser. "You're not going onto Discovery with a gun or that time device."

Just thinking about the chaos Mudd could cause with the weapons made him shudder. With the tools the fugitive could and would take over the whole ship just as he had done previously, that was something Chris was not willing to risk. Obviously he didn't want him or Burnham to be ripped apart but he was not about to put the crew's life in danger just for the sake of them. Burnham's resolute arms-crossed stance by his side told him she completely agreed with his demand.

Mudd scowled and raged. "We haven't got time for this!"

The monster took that tense moment to crash through the upper part of the door. They all stared fearfully in the direction of the shattered door, Chris caught a glimpse of a scaled arm and razor sharp claws before the rest of the door and wall was shuddering again and more bits were splintering off.

"No we don't." Pike shouted back to be heard above the almighty racket. "Do you want to live or not?"

He stared down Mudd and prayed the fugitive would choose wisely. They only had seconds before that thing was upon them and Mudd was the only one present who had a weapon. Eventually Mudd's will to survive overrode everything else and he threw his gun and the time device away in a fit of rage.

Pike wasted no more time; it was almost too late as it was. "Pike to discovery, 4 to beam up at my location. Emergency code Alpha Echo 271."

The crashing and roaring reached a crescendo in the room and the flimsy metal groaned under the never-ending assault, because of all the chaos none of them heard an acknowledgement. Pike hoped his message had got through when the inevitable happened. All four of them staggered backwards when the doorway finally tore and broke apart completely and the creature bounded into the room sending furniture flying in all directions.

Pike's heart hammered out the cacophony of noise until all he could focus on was his thumping pulse. His mouth hung agape as he caught sight of the creature or more importantly the size of the thing's teeth. His imagination had run wild when he first heard the roar but he hadn't thought the creature was going to be this _huge_, and it looked more ferocious than he could have ever imagined.

The Captain stared into the creature's starved yellow eyes and realised he was frozen in shock, he realised he should really be moving or running or something but he was rooted to the spot. Mercifully he felt the air around him charge and watched the creature fade away just as it leapt towards them, seconds later his view was replaced by the familiar view of Discovery's transporter room.

He had actually been half way through stepping backwards away from the monster's attack when the transporter kicked in, so he almost lost his footing when he stumbled off the transporter pad. It took his frazzled brain a few seconds to realise that he wasn't being ripped apart, that had been far too close for comfort. He blinked away the shock and felt like laughing to use up some of this excess adrenaline, against all the odds they were home and they were safe.

Sadly the moment of safety didn't last. He clocked the security team who were all pointing phasers their way and then he remembered who exactly he had beamed up with, at least he had made sure Mudd had thrown the gun and time device away. However Pike hadn't known about the knife concealed at Mudd's lower back or the killer program that was about the be triggered in Emily.

Pike had barely caught his breath when Mudd made his move. "Now Emily!" He yelled.

Chris was automatically turning to the confusing outburst when his wrist was abruptly captured from behind in a crushing grip, he gasped as his assailant yanked the limb back and upwards in a classic restraining position. He distantly heard a scuffle break out to his left and hoped Michael was alright.

The Captain's brain struggled to keep up, it all happened so damn fast. One minute they were safe and happy to be alive and the next he was under attack triggering yet another fight or flight response. He bent back with the restraining hold and stumbled backwards with his captor, he was about to lash out and twist out of the hold when he felt a sharp instrument dig into his side stealing his breath. He glanced down and his eyes widened when he saw a nasty looking knife glinting in Mudd's hand, a knife that had sliced straight through his side.

Pike grunted and hissed when the razor-sharp weapon pressed against his flesh again with enough pressure to draw blood, sadly this added a complication to his getting away from Mudd's crushing grip plan. He heard a choked gasp that sounded worryingly like Burnham. He looked over his shoulder as much as Mudd would allow and his heart dropped, Emily had Michael in a tight choke hold which was already making her face turn red.

It didn't escape his notice that Mudd and Emily had dragged him and Michael off the transporter pad so simply beaming their captors away was regrettably out of the question. The knife sliced into his side again and Pike was forced to face frontwards to alleviate some of the pressure on his arm, Mudd had damn near pulled the limb out of it's socket.

He closed his eyes momentarily and took stock of the situation forcing his body to slow down, there was no quick way out of this no matter how much he wanted to get out of the fugitive's painful grip. Damn Mudd. Pike had tried to prevent this exact situation from ever being possible, he had relieved Mudd of the obvious weapons and his hostages but now this mess had been brought aboard Discovery. He really should have checked Mudd for extra weapons but there hadn't been time, hell they had only just beamed back with their limbs in tact.

Pike sighed inwardly and wished he had heeded Michael's advice more carefully. Mudd was far more dangerous and devious than he appeared. They may all be home back aboard Discovery but Burnham and Pike were far from safe.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, where's my shuttle?" Mudd questioned exuberantly, entirely unconcerned by all the phasers pointing his way. However he did tense when the whole security team shifted forward a step in response.

Captain Pike grunted when the tight hold on his arm tightened almost to breaking point. In a flash the bloodied knife was resting under his chin, slicing his neck uncomfortably in the process. He heard gasping and desperate struggling to his left, worryingly it sounded like Michael was having trouble breathing in the robot's grip.

"Whoah there boys." Mudd nervously ordered sounding a little more anxious and finally taking the hostage crisis a little more seriously. "Do I really need to explain this situation to you? If you make a move I start poking holes in your Captain. I might not kill him but I'll give it my best shot."

Chris resisted the urge to roll his eyes but sadly flinched when pressure was unexpectedly put on the knife and it sliced his skin again, he felt blood trickle down into his uniform and wished Mudd would stop pulling him about so much. His arm had already gone numb and his shoulder socket was burning hideously.

"My robot friend here will snap Burnham's neck before you can take her down, that's the thing with robots they've got incredible reflexes." Mudd threatened dangerously.

In response to the warning Michael's gasps for air and discomfort grew louder. Pike leaned over his shoulder as far as Mudd would let him, ignoring the resulting pressure from the knife in the process. His concerned eyes soon found Burnham and he frowned deeply as he saw she was struggling desperately against the arm around her neck; the hold was clearly far too tight and Michael looked only seconds away from passing out completely from the lack of oxygen.

"You're killing her Mudd!" Pike shouted desperately. Worryingly Michael didn't appear to be able to hear his yelling, and her eyes were already flickering and beginning to close.

Mudd glanced round causally and frowned. "Why should I care?"

Pike wanted to pound him into the ground for his disregard to life, Michael didn't have time for this. "We just saved your life."

Precious seconds ticked by in tense silence. Finally Mudd shrugged half heartedly and addressed Emily. "Alright fair point. Emily ease up a bit."

The robot took the command literally and only moved her arm a fraction, thankfully it was enough to alleviate the complete lack of oxygen though. Pike winced in sympathy as he watched Michael gulp in huge mouthfuls of air; slowly colour and awareness returned to her features. Pike didn't miss the fact that his officer was still being deprived of enough oxygen to fully recover. The choke hold was probably very painful and the reduced oxygen would sap her strength and the resolve needed to fight back.

The Captain pursed his lips unhappily and was sorely tempted to demand Mudd do better, that was until Michael met his concerned gaze and shook her head a fraction. The message was clear: don't provoke him anymore than necessary; she could cope for now. Pike wasn't entirely convinced but Mudd interrupted his silent conversation by twisting his arm until he was painfully forced to face frontwards again.

"So time to start talking about what I want, or your crew will be getting smaller." Mudd smiled at his own joke, no-one else did.

One of the officers took half a step forward to lead the negotiations, Pike recalled he was a security officer called Jones. "What do you want?" Jones asked not once taking the dangerous fugitive out of his crosshairs.

Mudd laughed darkly. "Well for one I want all of you to drop your weapons and kick them over to me."

_That is not happening…_

"Belay that. Do not give this man any weapon." Pike ordered using his authoritative Captain's voice.

Jones and the entire security team nodded in acknowledgement and tightened their grips on their weapons. Pike was glad that he had people who listened to his orders without question even when he had a knife up against his throat. Mudd was not pleased with the interruption. He twisted his captive's wrist sharply causing Pike to cry out. Chris felt white hot pain race through his entire arm and shoulder as the limb was almost pushed to breaking point; he reluctantly leant back against Mudd to try and relieve some of the agonising pressure. The knife chased his neck even as he bent backwards.

"Have you got a death wish?" Mudd hissed lividly.

Funnily enough he had heard that very question many times over the years, maybe that meant he did indeed have one but there was no way Mudd was getting his hands on a gun. This hostage situation was already disastrous and putting Discovery at potential risk; he would do everything in his power to contain the catastrophe and stop this situation from deteriorating.

"There is no way I'm letting you get your hands on a ranged weapon that would put more of this crew in danger." Pike managed to breath out through gritted teeth.

He waited for agonisingly long seconds whilst Mudd decided what exactly to do about his captive's disobedience, he could feel his captor trembling with rage causing the knife to shake and scratch his neck over and over again. Eventually Mudd realised that the security team weren't going to listen to orders from him over their Captain.

What felt like hours later the hold on his wrist finally loosened and Pike gasped in relief as he was allowed to straighten and feel his limb again, Mudd kept him restrained but Chris was soothed by the fact that his limb wasn't being ripped out of place anymore. "Alright, but I don't want weapons pointed at me. Order them to lower them, point them at the ground."

Pike realised he had essentially made himself the negotiator in his own hostage situation which had it's own positives and negatives. He got to be in control of what Mudd was able to get his hands on but it was very difficult to detach himself from the situation when he was in the situation. From what little he knew of negotiation he wasn't about to give something away for free; he knew Michael was struggling badly which was becoming painful to listen to.

He took a deep breath and tried a placating non-aggressive tone and held his other hand up. "Alright, if you do something for me."

Mudd shifted on the balls of his feet restlessly. "And what would that be?"

Pike looked at Mudd over his shoulder. "You let Michael breathe properly, she isn't getting enough oxygen."

They both stared at Michael held limply in Emily's hold. Burnham looked uncharacteristically still and worryingly her breathing was incredibly shallow, she didn't even seem to be following the latest developments. Mudd scrutinised his captives for a few moments then glanced from the guns to Michael, eventually he nodded. "Alright fine, Emily let Commander Burnham breathe normally."

Michael breathed greedily as Emily loosened her choke hold to a more comfortable level. It didn't take long for Burnham's breathing pattern to return to normal and she took in the situation with a critical gaze. Pike was ecstatic that Michael looked alert and relatively undamaged again, of course he knew she was still in fatal danger and her neck could be broken in an instant, but the immediate danger had passed. He waited until she held his gaze and she smiled at him gratefully, he returned the smile sadly. What a quandary they were both in.

Mudd shook his shoulder forcefully and Pike realised he couldn't push Mudd's patience any further or what little of it he had left. "Lower your weapons." He ordered the security team.

Jones and the rest of the team obeyed instantly and Pike felt Mudd stiffen behind him; the fugitive was clearly affronted that he couldn't make them them do his bidding without the Captain's input. His annoyance did eventually abate when he realised that they didn't have guns pointing their way. Without warning Pike was pushed forward a little and he heard Emily and Michael do the same, the security team kept their guns lowered but only barely.

"Now we're going to find ourselves a shuttle." Mudd explained keeping a wary eye on the security team. "Where would they be Captain?"

Going mobile was not a good solution, any tactical officer could tell you that moving targets were a nightmare and if possible always keep targets contained. "You can't be serious Mudd, even if you make it to a shuttle there is no way you're taking off."

Threatening his or Michael's life wouldn't even change that. Even if Pike gave in and ordered the crew to allow Mudd off the ship they wouldn't obey, and with good reason. Orders made under duress should always be taken with a pinch of salt and never followed if it put others in danger. At the moment he was negotiating and no-one else was coming to any harm but a shuttle was ridiculous and out of the question.

Mudd chuckled. "You let me worry about the logistics, I just need you to take me there."

Pike almost rolled his eyes it was like talking to a brick wall; Mudd just wouldn't listen to reason. Before he snapped back a harsh response he caught Jones eyes and for some reason the security officer was indicating that he go for it and take Mudd mobile. The Captain cottoned on to Jones' signals and deduced that the crew had some sort of plan.

Chris stayed in character and acted reluctant. "They're on the flight deck. If you want me to direct you though they're going to have to clear the corridors from here to it." He indicated to the security team. "I'm not having anyone else in danger."

Mudd snapped impatiently. "Yes whatever get on with it." Jones started issuing orders into his communicator to clear the corridors.

Mudd suddenly added a command when his paranoia got the better of him. "Make sure they're completely empty, if I see anyone with a gun then Burnham and Pike are dead." He accompanied the command with an unnecessary painful twist.

It took a few tense minutes for Jones to clear the corridors and get confirmation. Pike knew that whatever plan Saru had put in place was also the reason for the delay but Mudd didn't know that. Chris was already in a hyper vigilant state ready to spot any sign of this mysterious plan when they left the transporter room, sadly Jones couldn't give him more information but at least he had tipped him off.

Eventually they were given the all clear over the radio and the doors out into the corridor swished open for them. Mudd beamed happily and pushed his captive forwards. "Start walking." The knife was mercifully pulled away from his bloodied throat but ended up resting against the back of his neck, annoyingly his arm remained trapped and restrained.

Mudd looked over his shoulder. "Oh Emily, if anything happens break commander Burnham's neck." Pike clenched his fists and let the angry response wash through him. He was sick of Mudd threatening other people's lives with such a cavalier attitude.

The robot acknowledge the order without emotion. Their captor seemed content with the response so they all headed out of the transporter room. Pike led them in the direction of the flight deck praying to every god and star he knew that Saru had a damn good plan.

* * *

"Where to now?" Mudd asked and roughly shook the Captain's trapped arm, Pike flinched and looked up at the oncoming crossroads.

He indicated with his free arm. "Round to the left."

Mudd nodded and steered his captive round the corner. Pike had been checking over his shoulder throughout their journey to check on Burnham's condition, Mudd soon put a stop to that when he claimed it made him nervous. Now all Pike could do was listen out for his officer's even breathing and hear her footsteps follow closely behind. He hadn't heard any distress but he would much rather see how Michael was doing for himself.

The foursome continued in silence and as promised the corridors were eerily cleared of all crew members, well except for Stamets who Pike had just seen peek out discretely at the end of the corridor. The Captain was alert instantly and his eyes scanned the rest of the corridor for any sign of anyone, whatever Saru had planned it was about to happen.

Pike kept his body relaxed in his captor's grip to keep the secret hidden, and he decided the best way to keep Mudd distracted was to talk to him and give him a false sense of security. "You don't give up do you?" He dropped the sarcastic bite he so wanted to put on the end and made sure it sounded like a compliment of admiration.

Mudd warmed to the compliment. "No Captain, it's not in my nature."

The Captain had first hand experience to attest to that, truthfully it was a rather admirable quality and in some cases he'd read was damn right impressive. "I admire that."

The fugitive lapped up the praise greedily falling into a more relaxed stance with each passing second. Pike kept a watchful eye on where he had last seen Stamets, preparing to break out of Mudd's hold and neutralise the knife on a moment's notice.

"Well thank you Captain…" The fugitive's words whimpered out of existence as the lights blacked out and they were all tossed into darkness.

There really couldn't have been a more obvious signal. Pike took the opportunity of distraction and was delighted to hear a commotion going on behind him, Burnham was clearly taking full advantage of the confusion too. The lights flashed back into power which was when Pike made his move.

"What the…" Mudd was halfway through turning round to see what was causing all the noise when Pike broke free of his hold.

The Captain struck out brutally and swiftly just like he had been trained to. Chris dropped down and twisted out of the arm hold avoiding the knife's blade carefully, he stomped down on Mudd's ankle powerfully fully prepared to immobilise the armed fugitive anyway he could. Pike ignored the cry of pain from Mudd and knocked the hand holding the knife away from his face, he followed through by gripping hold of the wrist powerfully and broke Mudd's thumb efficiently when the man refused to drop the weapon immediately.

Mudd howled like a wounded animal but the goal was achieved as the deadly weapon clattered to the ground, Pike quickly booted the weapon out of reach and blocked Mudd's fist just before it struck his face. Aware that Burnham may need his help fighting a killer robot, Chris ducked under another clumsy swing and struck Mudd in the jaw, followed up by a powerful roundhouse kick which sent the flailing fugitive crashing back against a wall.

Satisfied that at least for now Mudd was of little use in a fight and busy gasping for breath, Pike spun to Emily and Michael fully prepared to subdue a killer robot. What he was not surprised for however was the sight of Michael standing tall over the fallen robot without a further mark on her, Emily was sprawled out over the floor and looked completely dead. It took a few moments to connect the sudden power outage and Emily's loss of power; they must be related.

"Emily?" Mudd croaked in a saddened tone, confused by the sudden turn of events and surprisingly emotionally affected by his robot's lack of life.

Pike caught Burnham's eye and scanned her body for any serious injuries, her neck was very badly bruised and her breathing seemed a little off because of it but thankfully that was all that appeared to be wrong. Her dazed eyes cleared and she met his gaze before glaring angrily at Mudd. _Jesus_ Pike had never seen her _this_ pissed off before.

With just the one threat left to deal with they both turned to Mudd who was cowering against the wall Pike had slammed him into, clutching his broken thumb against his chest meekly. When he spotted the two irritated Starfleet officers closing in on him he did what any cornered animal would do, and he tried to claw his way out.

Pike and Michael both ducked the clumsy wide swing and punched Mudd's lights out. Their counter strikes had landed practically at the same time and produced a devastating effect, knocking Mudd back senselessly. The fugitive's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crashed to the floor unconscious and dead to the world.

The Captain looked from one downed assailant to the next and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Michael and couldn't help grin in the afterglow of adrenaline. "Still happy you got to leave the ship?"

* * *

Captain Pike was not a happy man. By all means he should be now that the threat was over and he was back in the comforting Captain's chair. The crew had successfully captured a dangerous fugitive, Michael's throat was healing and neither of them would suffer any permanent damage. So the persistent question remained, why was he so uneasy?

Chris sat in his ready room in silence and watched a live feed of Mudd's transfer off the ship. A security team from a prison facility had arrived to pick him up, and were currently processing him before taking the fugitive away from Discovery. Hopefully for good.

Pike was watching the proceedings rather than appear in person because the fugitive had asked to see him specifically, and he wasn't about to give that man anything he wanted after the pain he had caused Michael. The fugitive had been unnecessarily cruel with his words and actions. Pike could forgive the transgressions against him but not the trauma Mudd had caused his crew.

The Captain felt a presence behind him and he smiled warmly when he saw Michael approach. He couldn't stop his eyes from sliding to her neck which was still bruised and looked incredibly painful; it was simply another reminder of what chaos and pain Mudd had wrought.

"Captain." Michael greeted him and pulled up a chair by his side, her eyes turning hard as she spotted the subject of the feed.

"Commander." He nodded back at her and realised his mood was already lifting seeing her up and back to relative normalcy. "How's the neck?"

She touched the skin subconsciously. "A little sore but healing. How's your head?"

Michael's skill to deflect attention of her own injuries was something that really annoyed Chris, it annoyed him so much because it was exactly what he did. The problem was when they both did it someone ended up having to take the attention and it was usually him. He shook his head in exasperation and smiled they really were two of a kind.

In truth he had actually forgotten about the wound because it had been so minor, the only sign of it ever having existed was a reddish bruise on his forehead. His arm was far more sore after Mudd's rough treatment but all in all they had both gotten off luckily. "Fine." He answered eventually causing Burnham to chuckle lightly; he had been just as deflective as she had been.

They both turned their attention to the security feed as Mudd finally transferred hands and was enveloped in a golden glow. Just before the fugitive disappeared from view completely he stared directly into the security camera and waved, with a sinister grin stuck to his face.

The dangerous grin sent shivers down Pike's spine and he had to fight the instinct to brush off the cold feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach. That man would stay with him for a while. Burnham noticed the subtle change in his behaviour, the way his breath stilled and the way his muscles tensed and bunched up.

"Everything okay?" She asked with concern.

Pike sighed heavily and reached to turn off the feed. He had seen what he needed to, and Harry Mudd was off his ship. Good riddance but that still didn't negate the tightness in his chest, the crushing anxiety that threatened to drown him. He debated lying to Burnham and just forgetting this had all ever happened, but she would most probably see right through his ruse. Also it wouldn't be fair to ask her to open up and then lie himself, she was concerned and had a right to know. He'd be a hypocrite if he shut her down now.

"I don't know and that's the problem."

Michael frowned. ""If you're worried about Mudd he's off the ship, everything's back to normal."

Pike looked at her and smiled uneasily, Michael was telling him what he was telling himself yet it still didn't help. "I know but…"

Michael's expression morphed into laughter and she raised a brow in amusement. The irony wasn't lost on Chris, this kind of conversation was usually the other way round. "But?" She prodded.

The Captain stared at the blank screen right at the point where Mudd's smiling face had been. He felt the coldness pull at him again and wanted to slap himself back into the real world, Mudd was just a man and he was gone. For some bizarre reason Chris couldn't shake the danger he felt from the man. How could Mudd set each and every one of his instincts on fire?

Pike became aware that Michael was watching him carefully all traces of humour gone and concern etched across her face. Chris sighed tiredly and finally finished what he didn't want to admit to anyone. "I just can't shake the feeling that this won't be the last time we see Harry Mudd."

_Finis_

* * *

**A/N - So that's the last instalment for this story, I hope you enjoyed it! I really loved writing Mudd so I will definitely be featuring him in future stories. Thanks for the follows and kind reviews, it's really great people are interested! Expect to see more Pike centric stories appearing in the very near future :)**


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